UC-272 Defunct to Funct: Expanding the Functionality of Forgotten Robots

The field of robotics is an expanding landscape, pushing the frontiers of engineering, machine vision, artificial intelligence and more. The robotics industry also has a foothold in many areas, such as consumer markets, scientific research, industrial and medical applications, and even exploration. With the growing interest in automated machines, individuals who can work with these machines are in demand, and providing a way to learn the skills to do so would be just as valuable. Kennesaw State University is currently in possession of two UXA-90 Humanoid robots; both of which have remained in storage for extended periods of time since their purchase in the mid 2010’s. They have been intermittently worked on, but prior groups were unable to make the robots functional. Our project is to assess the robots, attempt to bring them back online, and then to explore their functionality in the hopes that current and future students would be able to utilize these robots in different projects. We utilized the manuals that accompanied the robots, as well as the software documentation for the Robot Operating System (ROS) in order to access the robot’s internal computer and diagnose the problems with the preloaded programs. By fixing the problems in the preloaded programs, we are now able to expand on the functionality of the robot with things such as voice control and face recognition

Anatomical Variation of the Brachial Plexus: An Ancillary Nerve of the Middle Trunk Communicating with the Radix of the Median Nerve

Purpose: Variations in brachial plexus anatomy are common. As such, the knowledge of variations is essential for surgeons and anesthesiologists to decrease the risk of iatrogenic injuries. Moreover, brachial plexus variations often co-exist with aberrant vasculature. The median nerve is formed from contributions by the lateral and medial cords. This case report details a unique variant in the formation of the median nerve. Methods: The anatomical variant presented was identified during an upper-limb dissection of an adult cadaver. Results: The anatomical variant presented demonstrates a bifurcation of the middle trunk of the brachial plexus that coalesces to the radix of the median nerve. Although prior studies have demonstrated median nerve brachial plexus variations, the aforementioned variant arises directly from the middle trunk and communicates directly with the median nerve, while previously mentioned variants often connect to the medial or lateral cords. Conclusion: The communicating branch between the anterior division of the middle trunk and radix of the median nerve represents a unique and uncommon anatomical variation.

Decline in subarachnoid haemorrhage volumes associated with the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, decreased volumes of stroke admissions and mechanical thrombectomy were reported. The study\u27s objective was to examine whether subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm coiling interventions demonstrated similar declines. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective, observational study across 6 continents, 37 countries and 140 comprehensive stroke centres. Patients with the diagnosis of SAH, aneurysmal SAH, ruptured aneurysm coiling interventions and COVID-19 were identified by prospective aneurysm databases or by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, codes. The 3-month cumulative volume, monthly volumes for SAH hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm coiling procedures were compared for the period before (1 year and immediately before) and during the pandemic, defined as 1 March-31 May 2020. The prior 1-year control period (1 March-31 May 2019) was obtained to account for seasonal variation. FINDINGS: There was a significant decline in SAH hospitalisations, with 2044 admissions in the 3 months immediately before and 1585 admissions during the pandemic, representing a relative decline of 22.5% (95% CI -24.3% to -20.7%, p\u3c0.0001). Embolisation of ruptured aneurysms declined with 1170-1035 procedures, respectively, representing an 11.5% (95%CI -13.5% to -9.8%, p=0.002) relative drop. Subgroup analysis was noted for aneurysmal SAH hospitalisation decline from 834 to 626 hospitalisations, a 24.9% relative decline (95% CI -28.0% to -22.1%, p\u3c0.0001). A relative increase in ruptured aneurysm coiling was noted in low coiling volume hospitals of 41.1% (95% CI 32.3% to 50.6%, p=0.008) despite a decrease in SAH admissions in this tertile. INTERPRETATION: There was a relative decrease in the volume of SAH hospitalisations, aneurysmal SAH hospitalisations and ruptured aneurysm embolisations during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings in SAH are consistent with a decrease in other emergencies, such as stroke and myocardial infarction

Oxidative Deamination of Dipeptides By Synthetic Manganese Oxide Characterized By High Resolution Mass Spectrometry

Manganese oxides (MnO2) are ubiquitous in soils and have been implicated in the degradation of organic molecules including peptides, antibiotics, herbicides, and pesticides. In a previous study, glycine-glycine (gly-gly) was reacted with MnO2 to yield Mn (II) and ammonia (NH4+), but the main degradation product was only qualitatively inferred. Using high resolution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), we identified and quantified the products formed following batch reactions with birnessite (δ-MnO2) and dipeptides: gly-gly and alanine-glycine (ala-gly). After 24 h, the dipeptide concentration decreased by up to 70% for gly-gly and 40% for ala-gly (additional methyl group at the N-terminus α-carbon). Furthermore, we found that when gly-gly was in the presence of bicarbonate (HCO3-), degradation was impeded to only 10% after 24 h. The degradation products were identified with mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) of 130.049 and 144.065 for gly-gly and ala-gly respectively and are a result of N-terminal oxidative deamination at the α-carbon. These findings may be useful in elucidating the oxidized products of organic toxins with manganese oxides, as well as potentially producing a site specific aldehyde for synthetic chemistry purposes

Temperature and Humidity Monitoring in Switchgear

This Bachelor’s thesis has been done for the company VEO Oy that specializes in providing solutions for automation and electrification, the assignment was to research different temperature and humidity sensors and sensor systems used in switchgear in the market to further improve VEO VEDA5000 switchgear product. A modern approach to implementation of temperature and humidity monitoring for switchgear is presented on designs based on Zigbee wireless, RFID passive sensors, Chameleon technology, SAW-based sensor, and optic fiber. The thesis goes through the technology used by different companies in the market and the needed theory to construct a microcontroller system for platform, software testing, and basic IoT understanding. Other focuses have been set into the IoT domain, into different clouds, IoT platforms, microcontrollers, and temperature sensors. The practical part of this thesis goes through the process to connect an ESP32 microcontroller to temperature and humidity sensors with a Raspberry Pi and to send data to the cloud such as IBM cloud through Node-Red, and data collects for further analysis and graphical visualization.Examensarbetet har gjorts åt företaget VEO Oy som specialiserar sig på lösningar för automation och elektrifiering. Uppgiften gick ut på att undersöka olika temperatur- och fuktgivare och givarsystem som används i ställverken på marknaden för att vidareutveckla VEO:s ställverkprodukt VEDA5000. Ett modernt tillvägagångsätt för implementering av temperatur och fuktövervakning av ställverk presenteras med design baserade på Zigbees trådlösa nätverk, RFID-passiva givare, Chameleon teknologin, SAW-baserad givare och optisk fiber. Examensarbetet går igenom teknologin som används av olika företag på marknaden och den teori som behövs för att konstruera ett mikrokontrollersystem för plattform, mjukvarutestande och för grundläggande IoT-förståelse. Andra fokus har varit på IoT-domänen, i olika moln, IoT-plattform, mikrokontroller och temperaturgivare. Praktiska delen av examensarbetet går igenom processen för att ansluta en ESP32 mikrokontroller till temperatur-och fuktgivare med en Raspberry PI och för att sända data till molnet som till exempel IBM cloud genom Node-Red. Data samlas för fortsatt analys och grafisk visualisering

Essays in Health Economics

This dissertation studies the effectiveness of public policies aimed at improving population health and narrowing health disparities. It is divided into three chapters. Chapter one provides new evidence on the health effects of cash transfers for people with disabilities. The chapter evaluates the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Disability Compensation program, one of the nation’s largest cash transfer programs. To accomplish this, a large administrative dataset is compiled by combining disability claims, medical records, and death records for over 800,000 veterans. The empirical strategy leverages the quasi-random assignment of disability claims to examining caseworkers and physicians, comparing veterans whose disability claims were assigned to examiners with varying levels of leniency. The results indicate that receiving $300 per month lowers five-year mortality by 0.8 percentage points, or 9.5% of the mean rate.The second chapter analyzes the prescribing behavior of nurse practitioners (NPs) and primary care physicians in states that allow NPs to prescribe medications independently. Inappropriate prescriptions are defined as drugs that are generally considered inappropriate for adults aged 65 years or older, according to the American Geriatrics Society’s Beers Criteria. The mean rates of inappropriate prescribing by NPs and primary care physicians are nearly the same. However, NPs are overrepresented among clinicians with the highest and lowest rates of inappropriate prescribing.The third chapter examines the adverse motivational effects of monetary incentives for vaccines. A survey experiment was conducted among 513 vaccine-hesitant adults between May and September 2021, priming half with the idea of monetary incentives for the COVID-19 vaccine. The findings show that monetary incentives discourage 14% of participants from getting vaccinated, a significant reduction since only one in four considered getting vaccinated at the outset. Participants in the primed group are more likely to believe that vaccines are unsafe and more likely to believe that people do not have a responsibility to get vaccinated, compared to participants in the control group

Detailed Design of a Thruster Solution for a Small Mass-Market Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle

This thesis addresses the design of a thruster-solution for a mass-market Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle with respect to performance and cost while increasing reliability, efficiency and durability of the system. With a relatively new and unexplored market, delivery of high quality is very important to make an impact with consumers. Factors such as performance, build quality and portability are important to be able to stay competitive in the market. The objective is to design a thruster for the BluEye Explorer P1, a portable Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle, with the existing thruster-solution as a guideline. Motor selection, protection of corrodible materials and propeller design are some of the problems encountered. The required performance of a motor and propeller is dependent on the total drag force exerted on the system. By using the dimensions of the Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle and its systems in combination with computational fluid dynamics analysis, necessary data is obtained to calculate the drag force on the body and the necessary power to operate the vessel. Appropriate motor alternatives are chosen through a process of elimination assisted by a computational script based on extensive propeller series. Suitable propeller designs are optimized and analyzed, resulting in a low-voltage DC solution with an operation depth of up to 100 meters. Cost-wise, the thruster is estimated to be one third of the price of the existing motor and propeller; in-house production brings the price down drastically compared to outsourcing. With the extensive propeller series and the aid of computational design programs such as OpenProp, the final product is ready to commence the production phase. Compared with the existing design, the thruster-solution is slightly bigger, but in return grants higher output

Box Beam

This report covers the product development process of a C-profile forming a box beam for use in storage systems. The company Brännehylte Lagersystem AB is in need of a new box beam that in pair can handle a maximum load of 4000 kg (four pallets x 1000 kg). At present the company has only one beam capable of a maximum load of 4x800 kg and wants to expand its product range and develop as a company and compete with others in the storage systems market. The first step began with acquiring information on the different beams and how they behave under stress. Then began a combination of brainstorming and brainwriting to generate a number of concepts of how a C-profile could possibly look like. After screening of the different concepts using Gut-feeling method three most appropriate concepts were left and were pitted against each other in a Pugh Matrix to get the best possible C-profile for further development. Calculations and tests were done on the selected concept with a combination of elementary cases and SolidWorks. For the beam to be approved it must meet the EU standard for storage racks. The calculated beam resulted in a working beam in theory, which in turn must be produced to confirm that the theory is true. Because a prototype must be produced in order to confirm the results, then the work cannot be proven in practical example and only be proven in theory